


As Your Shadow Crosses Mine

by Sivictis



Series: ProwlRod [2]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Do not post to another site, M/M, ProwlRod, Unrequited Love, megarod
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:00:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27763387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sivictis/pseuds/Sivictis
Summary: When you brought that communication device to Prowl, you knew it was the beginning of a galaxy-sized headache for the other mech. The events following that could've been a whole lot easier if only he didn't love you like you loved Megatron.
Relationships: Megatron/Rodimus | Rodimus Prime, Prowl/Rodimus | Rodimus Prime
Series: ProwlRod [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2032258
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	As Your Shadow Crosses Mine

**Author's Note:**

> This is a companion piece to [How your love can do what no one else can.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27622582)

When you presented Optimus and Prowl that communication device Megatron had given you, the latter bot was beyond furious. Prowl put a servo on his helm as if he didn’t comprehend why you accepted the ex-decepticon’s request in the first place. 

It wasn’t anything as deep as Prowl made it out to be, really. You saw a mech whose life was going to end. He was going to spend the rest of his days — the rest of everyone’s days — locked up as the world lived on after what once seemed like an endless battle. 

A battle that lasted for millions of years for reasons you never quite understood because you were on the other side. You recalled how, in the early days, you were simply glad to be alive. 

Because as long as you functioned, you were okay. As long as you were useful, you were okay. As long as you fit the status quo, you were okay.

But were you really okay back then?

When Nyon perished under one of the most difficult decisions you had to make in your life, you knew that you can no longer just be satisfied with being alive. It was silly, as life itself was already enough reason to live. By virtue of being alive, by getting to experience life in and of itself, it was okay. Wasn’t it? 

You wanted to have a purpose. The guilt was heavy upon your head and the scars underneath your arm platting served as a reminder of those you failed to protect. 

Perhaps you were a saint of the damned, in a way. But you were unable to help it. Whatever it was that continued to burn inside you, remind you of the itch underneath your arm — it stayed for both the better and worse.

When you first joined the Wreckers, it was Prowl who clasped a hand on your shoulder. 

You wondered if he understood the guilt you felt, the fury, the sadness. But when he said Nyon was a consequence of a necessary decision, you knew that he may never truly understand.

That didn’t mean you would give him or your team of Wreckers less than what was expected. You steeled your spark, set your jaw, and pledged to help those who needed it. Sometimes, your actions got you into trouble. You were _one of those_ , according to Prowl. 

You remembered how you grinned and dared to lean in close to Prowl just to tease him about it. You didn’t think that being _one of those_ was anything bad at all. 

* * *

At times, when the Wreckers got a rare break, you would all go out for some engex It was oftentimes low-grade, but it was the company that counted. You remembered how someone invited Prowl of all mechs to join a few gatherings. He treated the crew to high-grade and one night, you learned that he knew how to dance.

His servos around your own felt a bit too warm, and you reasoned that it was simply the engex and crowded atmosphere. His typically stoic expression eased as he guided you through new moves that you dared to put your own extra flare into. 

After, you took up new dance partners and smiled long into the night; heart aglow and mind in a good place. Through dance and laughter, and soft smiles beneath bright lights and around loud music, it was easy to forget all the wrongs you were accomplice to in the past.

Prowl’s disappointed look the next morning confused you.

* * *

Other times, although you would never admit it out loud, you wished that Prowl was open to something _more_ between the two of you. 

When you declared the noble quest of finding the Knights of Cybertron, you thought that his prolonged absence would help you quiet your thoughts. 

What you didn’t account for was Megatron’s trial on Luna 2 and the circumstances under which he became your co-captain shortly after. 

You recalled the words you said to him earlier.

_Optimus has to watch what he says. I don't. You're going to die, Megatron — and I'm sorry, but you deserve it._

* * *

Being co-captain of the _Lost Light_ with Megatron had its ups and downs. He was stubborn and frustrating. He was pragmatic and wholly strategic. It was always as if he was 10 steps ahead of everyone. It was difficult to get him to relax, but you supposed that being aboard a ship full of his once-enemies did that to a mech. 

Megatron never attended any of the ship’s bars until you invited him to conduct a poetry reading. Sure, it made a full bar become an audience of one, but when his voice continued to studiously recite his latest work, you thought that everyone else was missing out. 

You walked him to his hab-suite that evening with both your EM fields pulsing at ease. That feeling lasted up until you saw his door.

It was completely covered in graffiti and profanities, hitting you with reality and making your spark grow cold. 

You loved your crew. You pledged to yourself that you would save and protect and cherish them all. 

In that moment, you realized that those sentiments extended to Megatron, too.

Good mood gone, you clenched your fists, set your jaw, steeled your heart. The feeling was comparable to the time when you first joined the Wreckers. You marched to the supply closet, gathered some equipment, and returned to Megatron’s door to help erase the profanities. 

They reminded you of the scars under your own armor. 

Something between the two of you changed since then. Later, much later, when you finally realized what it was, he disappeared into the Functionalist universe. 

Still reeling from what Getaway did to your crew, you were too fast, too rash, too late to bring Megatron back with you. But you kept telling yourself that if your co-captain was able to do good for another universe, then it was also good enough for you.

It wasn’t just the lack of his presence and cold co-captain's seat beside your own that was disquieting. It also felt like an awfully empty universe without him.

The silence did not bode well at times, and when Prowl made his routine calls to check up on the progress of your quest, you appreciated his no-nonsense way of talking. 

It reminded you of a certain mech who you once saw as stubborn and frustrating. 

When the _Lost Light_ received a call from an unknown frequency, you were surprised to hear Megatron’s voice again. He sounded almost reverent, and you were rendered speechless as he spoke of what had happened. 

He was stubborn and frustrating, but wonderful. 

And you let him know that despite what awaited your crew upon the return to Cybertron. 

* * *

"No to the trial or no to the council?" Prowl asked you when you returned with your co-captain. 

You remembered how Megatron stood behind you and placed a hand on your shoulder. Prowl glared at him, at you, and then at him again. You decided to not relent. 

After all, you remembered the situation with Overlord along with your attempt to sacrifice yourself on Luna 1. All for you crew. And you would do it again for those you loved. 

“Oh, you want reasons?” you challenged Prowl. 

Then, with a snap of your fingers and a challenging grin on your face, you requested a victory lap for the _Lost Light_. 

Aboard the ship, when Brainstorm mentioned the possibility of creating a duplicate _Lost Light_ where everyone could travel and explore a universe indefinitely, you had to take that chance. 

“What do you think, co-captain?” you asked Megatron. 

He gave you a disbelieving laugh as if he couldn’t comprehend your audacity. But you knew that was what he loved about you. Unspoken memories played between both your EM fields — of him taking your hand and you pulling him out of his carefully planned demise against the Decepticon Justice Division.

Megatron had always been a mech with contingency plan after contingency plan. During his battle against Tarn, he already accepted his fate and was at peace with that. 

What he didn’t account for was you saving him in this universe and possibly another one. 

“I think forever sounds about right,” he replied. 

* * *

Once your crew made it back to Cybertron, you hoped against all hope that the duplication plan worked. 

When you went to see Megatron for one last time behind the bars, you felt like you were being watched by the security cameras. But damn them. 

You already lied to the entire universe just for a chance of saving the mech you loved. 

After all, although you were the one to open the Matrix thanks to its moral arbiter, you claimed that it was _Megatron_ who did it.

That carried a lot of weight. 

What was one more confession seen by others?

Your thought back to the meeting right before the Luna 2 trial. As you looked at the mech before you, the juxtaposition of it all was not lost.

“Magnus has to watch what he says. I don't," you began. "You're going to die or spend the rest of your life — the rest of everyone's lives — in prison... and I'm not sure you deserve it." 

"I think you're somewhat biased," the mech in front of you replied. 

After a few moments of silence, you tapped Megatron's servos.

“What’ve you got there?” you asked.

Instead of a reply, Megatron opened his servos to present a weathered, golden badge. It was cracked at the edges, but shined brightly all the same.

“Shut up!” you responded, voice filled with an emotion you weren't able to explain. “I gave that to you—”

“819 years ago, yes. It’s never left my possession.” 

Megatron looked at you right in the optics. His EM field was weak, but it held careful affection. 

“In the Functionalist universe,” he continued quietly. “It was my one link to my old life. My best life.”

The significance of it hit you.

_“Oh.”_

* * *

After the final trial, after everything was over, you decided to go aboard the _Exitus_. You returned to Cybertron some time to mourn the passing of Ratchet, but you were not the mech you used to be. 

When Prowl caught up with you before you headed back to the other ship, he offered you high-grade.

You accepted it at the lowest point of your life. 

Later, much later, he offered you today, as he knew he could never offer you tomorrow. 

When his fingers teased between the seams of your waist and he looked up at you as if he loved you, you wondered if that was what your own optics looked like when looking at Megatron. 

**Author's Note:**

> All the ProwlRod and MegaRod! 
> 
> Please leave a Kudos and/or a comment if you enjoyed this piece.
> 
> I'm also on Twitter ([@Sivictis](https://twitter.com/Sivictis)) if you'd like say hello.


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